With the holidays upon us there is a lot of over-eating and over indulging going on, so for the November cooking class I featured some salads.
Disclaimer: I never said they were low-fat, low-cal, or even healthy. My only claim was that they would be delicious. The plan was to make them hearty enough to satisfy the manly-man, but yet make them chick friendly, by either eliminating or reducing the protein and skimping a little on the dressing.
The menu looked like this:
Because I served the Asian lettuce wraps as an appetizer, I used endive as the vehicle. To serve this as an entree, wrap up this bundle of flavor in butter or Bibb lettuce.
This Southwest Chicken Caesar Salad was a big hit of the night. Instead of croutons we made mini pepper-jack quesadillas and stirred a little chipotle in adobo into fresh made, and the World's Best Caesar dressing.
I made a Margarita marinade and put the chicken to bed in it overnight. It was agreed, hands down that it was the best Margarita chicken everyone had eaten. For the chicken, twelve to twenty-four hours of swimming in that boozy bath was akin to a pool party at the Playboy mansion. Breasts and booze with everybody chillin' all night? It was a chicken party! Do try this Margarita marinade...it made for really flavorful chicken.
The Tuna Nicoise is one of my all-time favorite salads. EVER! I made this every week on Pisces and it was always a favorite. Sub salmon, if you have a big, beautiful piece. Chef Tom did a beautiful job of searing the this tuna and even the fish haters in the group *coughKittEmilycough* rose to the occasion and admitted it was good. Steamed potatoes, eggs, haricot verts, olives and capers tossed in a herbalicious-Dijon vinaigrette, keep this salad light, but with the bounty of ingredients it's still a complete meal.
The Ranch Steak Salad is as hearty as they come. Spinach, arugula and roasted red peppers are tossed with lemon juice. We then pan seared filet mignons, sliced and plated on some toasted French bread and topped it all off with a Ranch/Horseradish drizzle. The flavors of this salad are bold and it's definitely dinner worthy.
For dessert I made Watermelon-Jalapeno Popsicles. I'll give ya a sec to quit laughing or blushing. Yes I know, they look like a couple of penises. Get your mind out of the gutter....they were Crayola molds. And they were dang good! Click on the links below or go to the "Recipe Index" tab at the top of the page.
PRINT RECIPE: Asian Lettuce Wraps with Ponzu Dipping Sauce
PRINT RECIPE: Southwest Chicken Caesar Salad with Pepper-Jack Quesadilla Croutons
PRINT RECIPE: Watermelon-Jalapeno Popsicles
PRINT RECIPE: Caesar Salad Dressing: The World's Best
WISHING YOU ALL A MERRY CHRISTMAS!
